Targeting different markets with different products is important to boost sales and profits. Hernández ensures managers are hired locally when they enter new territories to utilise their understanding of the market demands.

Back home in Spain labour market reforms are being implemented; businesses have more flexibility hiring temporary staff and salaries for new-hires can be lower, but they are having little impact on established Spanish businesses like Ebro.

"It could even be a problem for competition," said Hernández, "a newcomer into the industry can now hire staff at lower levels."

Despite this, Ebro's sales increased in Spain in 2012, suggesting that the domestic appetite for branded food is finally returning.